Where to Start Shin Megami Tensei & Persona - Beginners Guide

A guide for where to start the SMT and Persona game series. If you want to know the first Persona and SMT game to play, then watch this video. I go over a brief history of Shin Megami Tensei and tell you my recommendations. New fan or old this video guide will show you what to play.
#shinmegamitensei #persona #beginnersguide #jrpg
(Ending) Music
Neffex - Immortal
Provided by KZbin Audio Library

[@greatsaiyaguy8868]

I remember starting a couple years back P4 and my friend who recommended the series to me pushing me to play P3FES first instead. I took his advice and it honestly has made my experience from 3FES to 4Golden(my favorite) to 5 even better. Despite the remake, I still recommend 3FES as a starting point if you have the means to play it. I think it’s the most artistically coherent version of P3 and really sets the tone of why it started the increasing trend of popularity with the series.

[@Dct_Alonze]

Recently just started playing the shin megami tensei games on my hacked 3ds and have been really loving the devil survivor 1 and 2 games, both games are admittedly really hard at times with its random difficulty spikes with bosses but all and all really amazing games Ironically enough persona 5 tactica ended up bringing back a similar gameplay style to what devil survivor had, so lets hope that a devil survivor 3 can actually happen!🤟

[@JustHistory_Guy]

WELCOME TO SMT! It’s always amazing to see new people start playing them! Devil Survivor games are some of the best and I am right there with you, fingers crossed for a third🤞🏼

[@Jw87563]

I get what you mean with SMT 4, but I do think a beginner to the series can play it and enjoy as their first entry to the series. I started using Citra a while ago and decided to look for some ROMs on their official site, and SMT 4 happened to catch my eye, so I picked it up. After a *very* rough beginning, the game eases up a bit and lets you experiment with different party comps, which I found pretty fun. That, and since wild demons have weaknesses and resistances that differ by species, I found the in-battle indicators, like a green exclamation for a weakness and a red X for null, for example, pretty useful and beginner friendly when you're just trying to get a hang of the battle system and figuring out how to best counter your enemies and fishing for those extra press turns. TD;LR: SMT 4 isn’t exactly a bad entry point if you happen to find it. I do understand the points made in the video, but I just wanted to mention that.

[@JustHistory_Guy]

Wow I actually didn’t look at it like that, and you made some good points! Thinking again I wouldn’t say SMT IV is bad starting point but it wouldn’t be where I’d start Thanks for watching the video & new perspective!!😁

[@Jw87563]

@@JustHistory_Guy Thanks for taking the time to read my long ass Ted Talk. 👍

[@JustHistory_Guy]

@@Jw87563 😂 OF COURSE! I love hearing peoples thoughts on the series

[@DragonKingX78]

I wish all these games were on modern systems....though some could use remakes while most just need remasters.

[@JustHistory_Guy]

Yes! It’s really upsetting how so many great titles are stuck on old systems. The DDS remaster would be amazing

[@uppernimbus]

Dude, this video is awesome! I'll definitely be coming back to this one in the future for when I get into the series myself. One of my IRL friends has recommended SMT so many times, so maybe it's a sign 😎

[@JustHistory_Guy]

It definitely is! I’ll be really excited to hear what you think when you get to them!

[@ShaneDabinett]

I recently got an old ps3 again, and too my surprise I see I had SMT DDS 1&2 on it as ps2 classics . So I started them and immediatly got Nocturne (on Switch) and waiting for Vengeance for ps5 next week. Why I didnt play these games before I dont know but and why I didnt start those ps2 clasics is beyond me, loving them now.

[@JustHistory_Guy]

You are in for an amazing ride!!!! All some of the best in the series I can’t believe you already had them downloaded too! Glad to hear you’re loving them

[@femtrooper]

This is super helpful actually!!! I am curious though what you would recommend for me! I’ve played Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal and I am looking to one day check out a SMT game…. I hate hard games though and I’ve heard SMT is super hard even on easy so what would you recommend for me? 👀

[@JustHistory_Guy]

For other spin-offs I would recommend Devil survivor games on 3ds super fun and the most like Persona! Not too hard at all in my opinion. Or I would say Digital Devil Saga on ps2 but that game definitely has moments of challenge(on easy mode though I think it shouldn’t be a problem) these two are great transition from Persona to SMT.

[@JustHistory_Guy]

For modern consoles though Soul Hackers 2 which is on everything it has a very Persona vibe and is enjoyable but the dungeon design could be a lot better. Game is not hard

[@femtrooper]

@@JustHistory_Guy Oh thank you!!! I own SMT: DSO on the 3DS and have always wanted to check it out so maybe this has a good starting place for me!!!

[@alvarodim1991]

​@@femtrooperDespite being difficult, SMT becomes easy once you master the game's mechanics. moments of challenge arise anyway, and that's the fun of it, the game never gets so easy that it becomes automatic (except smt 2 and 4).

[@Jw87563]

If you have a way to play 3DS games, then SMT 4 is pretty easy, if you can power your way through the tutorial (which pulls no punches, let me tell you) and two _very_ infamous bosses (one gets hyped up more than the other, but they'll both kick your butt if you go unprepared. You'll know who I'm talking about when you get to them). From what I could gather online as a noob, SMT 4 is one of the easier entries in the mainline series.

[@DragonKingX78]

I really hope rumored/"leaked" SMT5 "Complete Edition" port is true( and will be on my PS4) and the only reason we haven't heard anything official(especially during the SMT 30th anniversary) is because Nintendo has some deal to announce it first for the Switch 2.

[@JustHistory_Guy]

That would be awesome! I definitely think anything SMT V related though will be stuck on Nintendo But I would love for more people to be able to play it

[@DragonKingX78]

I love DDS 1+2, really deserves HD remasters, and ported to PS4/5, Switch, X-Box, etc.

[@JustHistory_Guy]

YES!!

[@raulrojas9253]

Nocturne...on hard mode. Blind ok no, SMT V Vengeance if you have a 3ds or can emulate it, go with SMT IV.

[@GenerationPixel]

I started with P5, fell in love, and now I'm trying to dive into the whole universe. I will have to stop playing P5 twice a year to give me a little more time to play the others 😂

[@JustHistory_Guy]

I relate to that too much 😂 P4 did the same thing to me! They are all definitely a time sink

[@Particle_Ghost]

P5 is trash and I'm sick of you KIDS always bringing it up. It's not even part of the Digital Devil games yet you still bring it up.

[@GenerationPixel]

@Particle_Ghost Kids? I'm 51 years old my good fellow, and P5 is spectacular 😎

[@GenerationPixel]

@@JustHistory_Guy but a worthwhile tine sink 😍

[@streamnutoutnow2110]

playing through persona 1 right now have played persona four golden and the original persona 5 and persona 5 royal persona four is easily the weakest for me but it is interesting to see your smt recommendations

[@JustHistory_Guy]

I love P5 too so I get that, but I am surprised you’d rank P1 over 4 (P1 is fun though) I’m glad you found my recommendations interesting😁 I’ll be curious what you think of P2

[@streamnutoutnow2110]

@@JustHistory_Guy I will play both p2's then the psp version of p3 thank you for your time